LinkedIn’s Pulse platform was a blogging and content curation tool that allowed users to follow influencers, publications, and brands to discover new professional content. It operated from 2013 to 2019, when LinkedIn discontinued the standalone Pulse app and integrated its features into the main LinkedIn platform. For longtime Pulse users, the change raised questions about where to find similar content curation features within LinkedIn. This article will provide an overview of what Pulse was, why LinkedIn shut it down, and how to find relevant content within the current LinkedIn ecosystem.
What Was LinkedIn Pulse?
LinkedIn Pulse was a content platform that aimed to be a one-stop shop for professionals to find insightful articles and blog posts about industry trends, career advice, workplace issues, and more. Key features of Pulse included:
- Curation of articles and blog posts from influencers, thought leaders, publishers, companies, and LinkedIn users
- Ability to follow other Pulse users and publications to customize your content feed
- Sharing options to repost articles to your LinkedIn profile
- Pulse search to find content by keyword or topic
- Pulse notifications to alert you to new posts from followed contributors
- “Most shared” and “top posts” sections to highlight popular articles
- Integration with Longform content to read detailed posts right in the Pulse interface
In its prime, Pulse provided a unique way for professionals to stay up-to-date on industry news and perspectives without having to visit multiple websites. Top contributors included major publications like Harvard Business Review, TechCrunch, and Fast Company, as well as individual thought leaders and influencers. For many users, checking Pulse became a daily habit to complement visiting LinkedIn.
Why Did LinkedIn Retire Pulse?
In September 2019, LinkedIn announced it was shutting down the standalone Pulse app and web interface. All Pulse content and features would be integrated directly into the main LinkedIn platform.
LinkedIn provided two main reasons for retiring the Pulse brand:
- To simplify the LinkedIn experience. Maintaining a separate Pulse platform in addition to LinkedIn was creating complexity for users. Combining the two would allow easier access to all content in one place.
- Pulse usage had declined over the years. Although engagement was still high on popular Pulse content, the total number of active Pulse users had fallen. LinkedIn believed ending Pulse as a standalone product was unlikely to impact many members??? experiences.
Essentially, LinkedIn felt the overlap between Pulse and LinkedIn audiences and content had grown over time. Keeping them as separate platforms no longer made sense. Retiring Pulse in favor of an integrated experience would maximize content visibility for creators and simplify consumption for audiences.
Where to Find Pulse-Like Content on LinkedIn
While standalone Pulse is gone, all of its content and many of its curation features live on within LinkedIn:
Following Contributors
You can still follow any company, publisher, or influencer on LinkedIn to see their posts in your feed. This capability replaces the Pulse follow feature. Simply find a contributor???s profile and click ???Follow??? to start seeing their posts.
Shared Articles and Longform Posts
Any articles that were shared publicly to Pulse can still be viewed and shared on LinkedIn. Look for posts with the ???Article??? label to dig into longform content. LinkedIn also preserves any comments and discussions on these posts.
Hashtags and Content Recommendations
Discover content by hashtag or let LinkedIn recommend articles based on your interests. Use hashtags like #marketing or #leadership to surface relevant posts. The LinkedIn algorithm will also automatically highlight posts you may like based on your profile and engagement.
Search
LinkedIn???s robust search allows looking up influencers, companies, topics, and keywords to find content. Try searches like ???thought leadership??? or ???employee engagement??? to discover posts, articles, and profiles discussing those themes. Search by individual contributor names to quickly see their latest posts.
LinkedIn News
For curated news stories across industries, check out LinkedIn News. This section aggregates business news and analysis articles from top publishers. Follow specific news channels like Technology or Finance to personalize your newsfeed.
Publisher Pages
Many former Pulse media partners now have dedicated LinkedIn Publisher pages showcasing their content. Follow these pages to see the latest articles from publishers like Harvard Business Review, Entrepreneur, and Inc. Checking Publisher pages replaces scanning those sites??? feeds on Pulse.
Notifications
Turn on notifications for a user or page you follow to get alerted whenever they publish a new post. This mirrors the Pulse notification experience of getting updates when followed contributors added new content.
Best Practices for Finding Pulse-Like Content
With a bit of work, you can recreate much of the Pulse content experience directly within LinkedIn:
- Follow industry thought leaders and influencers who published popular posts on Pulse. Stay up-to-date on their perspectives by getting their articles in your LinkedIn feed.
- Visit Publisher pages for sites you enjoyed reading on Pulse. Follow their LinkedIn pages so you never miss any newly published content.
- Set up notifications for your must-read contributors. Be the first to know whenever they share new articles.
- Check hashtags and keywords for topics you care about. Discover a range of voices and outlets publishing on your favorite subjects.
- Use search to quickly find specific kinds of content. Search by headline themes or author names to pull up relevant posts.
- Explore LinkedIn News across industries that interest you. Get personalized newsfeeds on business, technology, leadership and more.
While not an exact replacement, these strategies can help surface the professional articles, industry perspectives, and thought leadership content previously found on Pulse.
Pulse Alternatives Beyond LinkedIn
For those looking to replicate the Pulse experience outside of LinkedIn, several alternative platforms may meet your needs:
Flipboard operates similarly to Pulse, allowing users to customize content feeds by following topics, publications, and influencers. The interface also focuses on article curation and magazine-style content discovery.
Apple News
Apple???s news aggregation service brings together top stories, trending headlines, and magazine articles in one place. Readers can personalize their feeds and access content from hundreds of publications.
SmartNews
This news discovery app uses machine learning to recommend articles based on your reading history. It surfaces content from top global publications across categories like politics, business, tech, and more.
Nuzzle
Nuzzle scans thousands of sources to deliver personalized newsfeeds by topic, influencer, social shares, and other filters. Users can also share and annotate articles.
Feedly
Users can compile articles from websites and blogs into a single Feedly feed. Customize your content channels by following specific sources and topics.
The combination of following select contributors directly on LinkedIn and exploring alternate platforms can help recreate the curated content experience Pulse provided. While the standalone Pulse platform may be gone, its purpose lives on in new forms across LinkedIn and beyond.
Conclusion
For dedicated Pulse users, the platform???s retirement represented the end of an era in LinkedIn???s evolution. Pulse transformed how professionals discovered and shared relevant news and insights within their industry networks on LinkedIn. However, as LinkedIn has grown into a more comprehensive platform, maintaining a separate content experience in Pulse no longer made sense.
Although the standalone Pulse app is gone, its content and features have been integrated into LinkedIn. Follow top contributors, personalize newsfeeds, set notifications, and utilize LinkedIn search to find engaging articles and thought leadership posts from across the LinkedIn network. For some professionals, exploring alternative platforms like Flipboard or Apple News may also provide a content curation experience reminiscent of Pulse.
While the change required an adjustment period for longtime fans, Pulse???s disappearance ultimately simplified the LinkedIn content ecosystem. LinkedIn???s move to a unified platform likely improved visibility for creators??? posts and helped showcase their work to a wider audience. For most members, Pulse???s retirement just meant adapting their content discovery habits to leverage LinkedIn???s built-in tools. By following top voices, personalizing newsfeeds, and exploring recommendations, Pulse devotees can still stay informed and find inspiring perspectives to enrich their professional lives.
